This is one of those "not a nit, more an observation" ones - but in all other Trek series, the transporter has always been a very finnicky device, prone to failure whenever conditions were not just right. The crew would then fall back on the much more reliable shuttles. Enterprise is reversing that trend - nowdays it seems that there are all kinds of atmospheric storms or radiation which stop shuttles being used, yet the transporter just keeps on going fine. Since this transporter is a very primitive model, it really should be more unreliable than the shuttles.

Great Moment :

The alien was probably the high point of the episode - it's nice to see an alien of the week that gets fleshed out more than usual. Beyond that there isn't much to say - the episode was a very blatant rip off of the movie "Enemy Mine" and of TNG's "The Enemy".

Body Count :

Both the alien and Trip shoot or beat each other up repeatedly, but no deaths.

Factoid :

Shuttlepod one is apparently lost in this episode. That makes two shuttlepods lost out of two (the other was in "Desert Crossing"). Somehow I have the feeling that they will both be back in the bay next week, though.

Plotline

Trip is testing out a new modification to one of the shuttlepods when an alien shuttle attacks without warning, bringing both ships down on a nearby moon. Trip and the alien struggle against one another on the surface - but when the sun comes up in the morning the temperature on the moon will rise to over 100oC, killing both men. Can they overcome their differences and work together to repair a transmitter so that they can signal for help?